1. Field of the Invention
The invention herein pertains to high production commercial embroidering as is used to place logos or names on shirts as required by businesses and particularly to the continuous hoop framing of such garments before they are loaded on an embroidering machine.
2. Description of the Prior Art and Objectives of the Invention
In recent years the demand for garments having first quality, logos, trademarks and the like has increased as more and more businesses realize the benefits of supplying workers with shirts, jackets and other garments employing company identification. Also, sports fans have become increasingly enthusiastic about purchasing apparel which identifies their team. While printing of identifying markings on various items has not been totally replaced, the demand for sewn or embroidered goods has rapidly multiplied and shop owners which use multiple-head embroidering machines (which may embroider twelve to fifteen garments at a time), which are computer controlled, are now running two to three shifts a day to keep up with demand. Hoop framing, as is conventionally performed in the trade, utilizes a relatively large exterior embroidery hoop which may be placed, for example, inside a t-shirt to provide a selected area upon which the logo or emblem is later embroidered. Once the exterior hoop is so placed, an interior embroidery hoop is then urged from outside the shirt into the exterior hoop, thereby sandwiching a tight circle of cloth therebetween. The so "hooped-framed" garment is then positioned in a hoop holder on an embroidering machine and the logo or emblem is then sewed within the framed circle. After sewing, the framed garment is removed from the machine, the hoops disengaged, and another framed garment is placed on the embroidering machine and the cycle repeated. For multi-head embroidering machines, twelve to fifteen framed garments are simultaneously loaded and embroidered.
While the sewing (or embroidering) is usually completed in rapid fashion and the loading and off-loading of the hoop-framed garments can be quickly, manually carried out, the steps of hoop framing the garment are generally slow and create bottlenecks in the embroidering process. While some mechanical framed presses have been utilized to increase the hoop framing speed, such mechanical devices are lacking in versatility and cannot be easily and quickly varied for different garment sizes.
Thus with the disadvantages and shortcomings of prior hoop framing methods, the present invention was conceived and one of its objectives is to provide a jig and method for embroidery hoop framing which will allow a high volume of particularly sized garments to be rapidly, accurately and consistently hoop-framed.
It is another objective of the present invention to provide an apparatus and a method for hoop framing garments such as shirts which will allow the jig employed to be quickly changed for use from one size garment to another.
It is still another objective of the present invention to provide an embroidery hoop framing jig having an insert which will accommodate various positionings of logos or emblems on a garment and which will accommodate many sizes of embroidery hoops to suit the needs of the user.
It is also another objective of the present invention to provide an embroidery hoop framing jig which is positioned on a stand to provide convenience for the user.
Various other objectives and advantages of the present invention become apparent to skilled in the art as a more detailed description is set forth below.